Black People Perceive a White Gay Man’s Call for Solidarity as More Disingenuous than His Call for Allyship

Four studies ( N = 1643) assessed Black people’s perceptions of a White gay target calling for Black allyship or Black-gay solidarity in social media posts (Studies 1a–1b) and interactions with a Black colleague who discloses facing discrimination (Studies 2–3). Generally, Black-gay solidarity calls elicited perceptions of more disingenuous motives (Studies 1–3) compared to allyship calls. Novel to allyship perception research, Black people anticipated greater identity-credentialing from White gay targets who espoused solidarity compared to allyship calls, an expectation that gay targets would use their marginalized gay identity to buffer against claims of being racist (Studies 2–3). Further, calls for allyship and solidarity acknowledging interpersonal versus structural discrimination inconsistently impacted perceptions (Studies 1–2). White gay men were evaluated less favorably as allies than Black gay men, with no effects of target race on calls for solidarity versus allyship (Study 3).